Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

site Okolište is located in the municipality of

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 livi ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. It was proclaimed a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest

Butmir culture The Butmir culture was a major Neolithic culture in central Bosnia, developed along the shores of the river Bosna, spanning from Sarajevo to Zavidovići. It was discovered in 1893, at the site located in Butmir, in the vicinity of Ilidža, w ...

site. Excavations have identified at least nine phases in settlement history.

Location

The Visoko Basin is situated 40 km northwest of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. The basin is crossed by the

river Bosna The Bosna ( sr-Cyrl, Босна, ) is the third longest river in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is considered one of the country's three major internal rivers, along with the Neretva and the Vrbas. The other three major rivers of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

and is 400–410 m above sea level. The basin is encircled by

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

mountains of up to 1000 m height. Within the Visoko Basin, about 15

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

Late Neolithic In the Near Eastern archaeology, archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding th ...

sites are known by surveys and earlier excavations.

Research

Field work focused on the site of Okolište, located in the northern part of the Visoko basin, was carried out during several campaigns from 2002 to 2008. Due to its size of about 7 hectares, this settlement is categorized as a central place within the Visoko basin, which has several other Neolithic sites, such as those in Donje Moštre and Arnautovići. The Neolithic settlement of Okolište is situated between the villages of Radinovići and Okolište, about 6 km northwest of Visoko. There are a total of 36 sites of

in the river valleys of the Bosna and

Neretva The Neretva (, sr-Cyrl, Неретва), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power plants with Dam, large dams (higher than 15 metres) provide flood ...

. The biggest settlement in the Sarajevo basin is located in

Butmir Butmir ( sr-cyrl, Бутмир) is a neighborhood in the municipality of Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo International Airport, the main airport of Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in Butmir. Geography The Butmir region is very rich in ...

, while the largest settlement in the Visoko basin is in Okolište, with an area of 7-5 hectares. The Visoko basin, along with the neighboring Kakanj, was a core region of the Neolithic settlement of Central Bosnia. The area has seen a distinct increase in the number and total area of settlements dating back to around 5200 BC or earlier. The research was carried out in cooperation with the Roman-German Commission of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and the

University of Bamberg The University of Bamberg () in Bamberg, Germany, specializes in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, economics, and applied computer science. Campus The university is partly housed in historical buildings in Bamberg's Old Town. ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

and the City Museum in Visoko. Geomagnetic prospecting clearly shows a greater number of protective ditches and showed a clearly visible structure of 54 houses. Their length ranges between 12 and 13 m, while the width varies between 6 and 8 m. Detailed measurements within individual houses have identified, including walls, multi-room divisions, and two furnaces in each house, which largely coincides with objects known in Neolithic settlement of Obre II. During excavations, a total of 7 houses were discovered. Within a few houses, there were remains of stoves, single fireplaces, a large number of workshops, ornaments and workshops for making

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

s, and a large number of different pits. The majority of the archaeological material found consists of ceramics. The ceramic pots with the contents of the ornaments and forms belong to the phase Butmir II and the lower phase of Butmir III ( Hvar-Lisičići), which dates back to 4800 and 4700 BCE. The results of the excavations and the geomagnetic survey allow the estimation of the number of houses and of the population size of Okolište. It is estimated that 200 houses existed at the same time in the earlier phase of the settlement. With the assumption that each household consisted of an estimated five individuals, the number of inhabitants can be estimated at approximately 1000. Visoko basin could be home to roughly 3500 individuals who lived here, which corresponds to a population density of 32 inhabitants per sq. km. Food production in the Late Neolithic Visoko Basin and its surrounding area was based on a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry while hunting was of less importance. Cattle was of great importance to Neolithic population in Visoko basin. Agriculture in Okolište was based on grain cultivation dominated by

emmer Emmer is a hybrid species of wheat, producing edible seeds that have been used as food since ancient times. The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''T. t. ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is called ''T. t.'' s ...

and

einkorn Einkorn wheat (from German ''Einkorn'', literally "single grain") can refer to either a wild species of wheat (''Triticum'') or a domesticated form of wheat. The wild form is ''T. boeoticum'' (syn. ''T. m.'' subsp. ''boeoticum''), and the domes ...

, along with

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

and naked wheat. Within 1 km is another archaeological site Donje Moštre, which apart from neolithic culture, has

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

artifacts, from a period of

Vučedol culture The Vučedol culture (Croatian: ''Vučedolska kultura'') flourished between 3000 and 2200 BC (the Chalcolithic period of earliest copper-smithing and arsenical bronze-smithing), centered in Syrmia and eastern Slavonia on the right bank of the Dan ...

References

External links

* http://www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de/pdf/2004_kucan.pdf * http://www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de/pdf/2007_okoliste_low.pdf * http://www.okoliste.uni-kiel.de/ *http://h.etf.unsa.ba/butmir/english/okoliste.html
Excavations in Okolište and the reconstruction of Late Neolithic settlement processes in the Visoko Basin in Central Bosnia (5200–4500 B.C.)
''by'' Robert Hofmann, Zilka Kujundžić-Vejzagić, Johannes Müller, Nils Müller-Scheeßel, Knut Rassmann
New radiocarbon dates for the Neolithic period in Bosnia & HerzegovinaLate Neolithic vegetation around three sites in the Visoko basin, Bosnia, based on archaeo-anthracology – spatial variation versus selective wood use.
{coord, 44.0336, 18.1429, format=dms, type:landmark_region:BA, display=title History of Visoko Neolithic sites of Europe National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina Butmir culture

Location

Research

See also

References

Further reading

External links